


What is home ?

by Eleanora16



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Drunken Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Jealousy, M/M, Real Madrid CF, Sad with a Happy Ending, Team Bonding, Team Feels, Team Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-22 04:56:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15574266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eleanora16/pseuds/Eleanora16
Summary: It has never been his home anyway.There are tons of other places waiting for him, so why would he bother to stay?Years after his arrival at Real Madrid, he was still unwelcomed. After all, a drunk Luka had spilled the truth.In which Gareth Bale thinks about leaving Real Madrid and is determined to do so after drunk confessions from his former friend Luka Modric.But Luka is not about to let him go.





	1. Let's be real

Gareth was heading towards the field, alone, as usual. The rest of the team was already training but he was late because the team doctors were paying extra attention to his previous injury. Everyone was extremely concentrated since the final of the Champions League was right around the corner. In 4 days, they were going to face Liverpool.

The semi final against the Bayern Munich had been hard for him, after all, he was on the bench the entire game. But he knew better than to complain, the only answer was to train harder, to perform better.  
The only problem was that Gareth found himself playing more to prove the haters wrong than for his love for football. Slowly, he was realizing than playing football brought him no specific joy. All the hate, mostly linked to the price tag _“He is not worth a penny out of the 100 million RM paid him” “How can you spend so much for a player like him ? First time I’m disappointed in Zidane”,_ were starting to get him.  
Bu the held his head high anyway. Pride was one of the first values his mother taught him “Unless you’re disappointed in yourself, you are not letting anybody bring you down by hate or jealousy. As long as you are proud of yourself, you are worth everything in the world”.  
So he entered every game head high, determined look, hard glare. That’s how he once conquered the Barnabeù crowd and that’s how he intended to do it again.

And as he approached the end of the corridor, he smiled at the sight of a familiar number 10.

Being in Madrid was hard. Even years after his arrival, he was still at the most basic level in Spanish, he hardly understood what his teammates said to each other but hey, he had always struggled with languages. And he was not like Varane or Benzema who went from French to Spanish which are both really close languages. He did not understand how Luka managed with all of this Croatian, English, Spanish…The guy really impressed him.

Thinking of him made him smile. Luka Modric has been his rock since he arrived here.  
He would never admit it out loud, but finding someone who used to play in with him at Tottenham, in all of this Madrid madness, was comforting. They were close but became even closer at Real. After all, Luka always made sure he kept up with all the information when everyone were talking Spanish, spend time with him, shared a room together during tournaments, and he was one of the rare to understand him. Yeah, Luka was a real friend.

He was more a social butterfly than him of course; it was not very hard after all: Luka was loved by everyone for who he was on the pitch, a fucking magician, and outside of it, an amazing teammate, always there to help out or comfort someone. He brought to the team a light, a source of reassurance. He was always there to balance, to stabilize any risky situation and everyone was grateful for him.

However, Gareth knew that he was not like by a lot of players. His relationship with them did not exceed the pitch, they were in the same team, they had to play together, but that was it : teammates.

Except for Luka of course, the only ones he would consider as more than teammates were probably Raphael Varane and Lucas Vazquez. He appreciates the collected, mature temperament of the first one, and the effort of the kid to always bring a smile to his face. Those three were always the first to celebrate a goal with him, to cheer him up and he was beyond happy that they had his back in this club where everyone, supporters included seemed to dislike him. A voice snapped him back into reality.

-“Hey Gaz … are you alright? You’ve been standing there looking quite lost for a while “ Luka said frowning as he came closer to Gareth.

-“Yeah yeah I’m fine, just trying to get accustomed to the new bandages the doctors have put on my calf.”

-“Oh okay! But you’re fine right?” the midfielder insisted.

-“Yeah yeah don’t worry my friend, let’s go training I’m already too late” Gareth answered with a smile grabbing Luka by the elbow.

Gareth’s mind was everywhere but on a pitch. The warm-up had been going for an hour now and he found himself wondering when he could possibly plan another golf afternoon with friends in Wales. As he started to mentally count the weeks before he got to take a break, he found himself flying towards the ground. Groaning, he took the hand of a concerned-looking Sergio Ramos who had tackled him:

-“Are you alright Gareth? I’m sorry I thought you saw me and you had anticipated it”

-“Yeah don’t worry, it was my fault I got lost on thought I wasn’t paying enough attention” Gareth dismissed, grabbing his leg which was now scratched by Sergio’s shoes.

Quickly others met around him to see what happened, Modric was looking ready to send him to the emergency room immediately, but to proves them everything was fine , he jogged back to the line facing the goal, teeth grinning as the pain shot through his entire leg. He would be fine, he had worse.

He forced himself to concentrate for the rest of the training not wanting to raise any suspicion about his unusual behavior.  
They were doing an opposition, and as he passed Marcelo, he found the perfect opportunity the kick the ball, which soon landed on the opposite corner. For the first time in the morning, he let out a genuine smile. The adrenaline, the quick pace, the rush before kicking the ball and the soaring relief when it landed in the net; that’s what he craved for, that’s why he loved football.

He smiled back to Rapha who had his thumbs up, cheering for him. If everyone could be like him…football would be much more enjoyable. The smile on Gareth’s face quickly vanished when he saw Cristiano looking at him with a disappointed expression on his face. Immediately, all good feelings left him as he answered with an apologetic smile.

-“I’m sorry man, I didn’t look to see if I could pass you the ball”

-“Yeah you didn’t, try to next time because I was alone and I had passed the defenders ok ?” Cristiano answered a bit too sharply for Gareth’s liking.

-“I will don’t worry I just saw a perfect opportunity and…”his apology faded as he saw Cristiano turn around and run back to another exercise.

The welsh striker sighted. That was it. He never thought that it would go this far, but he couldn’t do it anymore. His decision was taken.  
When the training ended, Gareth went straight to Zidane, his heart pounding. Was he really doing that? Was he going to regret that in probably 15 minutes? Probably. But he could not postpone this conversation his entire life. This needed to be done, for his sake.

-“I need to talk to you”. The seriousness in his tone made Zidane wonder what had happened “and not in the middle of the pitch…somewhere more private let’s say…it’s important.” Zidane nodded :

-“Look go back to your room, shower, do whatever you want but rest a bit and meet me in 2 hours at the hotel’s reception.”

  
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Please leave kuddos or comments if you liked the beginning of this story ! T **ell me if you want Gareth and Luka to be only best friends in this story, or if you want them to become more and smut ensues xD? Seriously I need to know in order to post and write the next chapters and I honestly don't mind writing either only friendship or more! Don't be** **a silent reader!**

 


	2. A talk with Zidane

On his way to Zidane’s temporary office in Kiev, Gareth did not cross anyone. He noticed that James was surpinsingly paired with Sergio and made a mental note to ask Luka about it later. As he saw Zidane characteristic bold head, his heart started to pound like crazy. He could not believe he was about to do that.

-“Come here Gareth well be at peace to talk about whatever you wanted to”  
Gareth felt like a kid trapped in front of his parents and his school’a headmaster. He was a nervous wreck and despite his effort to hide it, he saw Zidane’ eyes looking to his shaking head. You couldn’t hide anything to this man, he should have known better.

-“So what is it ? I have to admit I was genuinely surprised to see you looking so serious about a conversation with me...what is wrong?”  
Perhaps it was his coach’s gentle tone, or his piercing blue eyes that seem to see through everything, that made Gareth blurt out the truth. He had to to it one way or another :

-“I want to leave Real Madrid”

Silence 

-“Why?” Gareth was thankful that he didn’t make him repeat himself.

-“It was a mistake to think I could ever get used to the club, the mentality, the city...”

-“Look Gareth you are obviously an amazing player and I genuinely believe that Madrid need you. Is it because you’ve been on the bench ? We’ve talked about it...we agreed to take things slowly to not risk anything with your calf. ...

-“You don’t understand” Gareth cut with a renewed confidence. “When I first came in, I perfectly knew the club politic : play for Ronaldo, he is the star of the club, we need him for the image, the publicity, the club economy nearly also lays on his and what he brings to the club. I thought it would not bother me because it was so understandable, he truly is a superstar and I admire him as a footballer. But I grew tired of it I guess. I want to feel the adrenaline he feels after scoring nearly 2 goals each match, but I can’t have it here and it’s okay. Real Madrid has too many superstars. If I want to play every zero, I have to go to a club where a striker is needed. I understand and will always respect Real, but I will never be happy here “

-“What changed...you’ve never brought that up the previous year ?

-“Are you not arguing back?” Gareth said surprised

-“I’m trying to get your point first now please continue” Gareth smiled to himself. Zidane was so understandable and wise...he was really grateful for him.

-“I was thinking about golfing this morning on the pitch”

-“What ?” This time he has managed to caught his coach off his guard 

-“ I can’t play football here anymore. The supporters hate me. My teammates only play with me because they have to. I’m not even happy playing football. The only reason I keep coming back to the pitch is because I can’t stand the humiliations and I have to prove them wrong.”

-“you are not playing football for yourself anymore are you?” 

-“Exactly. I’m even wondering if I’m not going to retire “

-“You’re not.”

Gareth let out a chuckle but Zidane was dead serious.

-“I’m not letting you quit football.”

-“If I ever leave Real, the price tag will follow me, so the expectation, so the hate that supporters from all over the world seem to have for me since I nearly competed with THE Cristiano Ronaldo price tag.  
Look I am only sure to be happy when I play for my flag.”

-“Look, as a coach for Réal Madrid, i was going I say that I would fail the club if I ever let a player like you go. But as a football player and a coach, I would feel like a failure if I made a player like you quit football. You quitting football would be probably the worst waste ever and my worst mistake as a football enthusiast”

Gareth smiled. Football enthusiast. That was a way to call the football prodigy who looks at him with a concerned look.

-“does that mean you are not saying no ? “ The number 11 inquired.

-“honestly, I don’t want to give you an answer yet. First you need to find your love for football back. I’ll do everything in my power for it to be back with the club. If not, then we’ll find a way so for you to oky elsewhere. But no, I’m not letting you quit football and I’m sure your other teammates don’t want you to either”

-“I don’t really think they care to be honest”

Zidane sighed. 

\- “I’ll announced your decision to them after the finale, until then I hope I can count on you to give your maximum into training. I have heard and understand your point of view, solutions exist but now, only the finale should be in your mind...”

-“...as soon as I step out of your office it will be, don’t worry.”

-“Good. I guess you’re free to go”

As Gareth turned around, Zidane said again 

-“And Gareth ? I planned on beginning the match with you on the bench, but I want to assure you that it has nothing personal nor linked to the conversation we just had.”

-“Will I play ?”

-“I can promise that you will”

-“Then I’ll adapt “

-“I didn’t expect less from you. Now see you at dinner tonight “

-“And coach ? Thank you for understanding.”

-“no problem Gareth.”  
Gareth felt quite happy with the agreement that he found with Zidane. He was okay with trying to live football at Real Madrid but did not really believe it would happen since he was so lonely in the team.

 

As he enter his room, he noticed the light was on, someone was already here.  
Indeed, a certain Luka Modrić was on his bed, arms folded and looking quite furious at him: 

-« okay so now that you have avoid the topic and escape the conversation as much as you could, maybe you can tell me what the hell is going on with you ? »


	3. Unsaid things

**PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END, THE STORY DEPENDS ON IT**

 

Gareth gulped. Suddenly, leaving the club seemed much harder. He would have rather been asked to hug Lionel Messi than having to stand in front of this hard stare. But there was no way he was going to tell him the truth, not until he was a hundred percent of his decision. So he did what he was the best at : avoiding (the only things he didn’t manage to avoid were injuries)

-“It’s nothing honestly Luka. I had a chat with Zidane about the finale and if I would play or not, since my calf has been a bit hurting.”

-“And will you ?” The Croatian asked, still very suspicious.

-“I will, but I won’t start the game on the field”. Luka’s hard face immediately turned into an apologetic one. He hated to see his friend sad and he knew how much he hated not being on the starting lineup. “But really, don’t worry everything’s fine” Gareth dismissed.

-“This conversation is not over you do realize it?” Luka insisted. “You’re too much of an open book to lie Gareth. Something is bothering you, and it won’t take long before I discover the truth.” He said getting closer “But I believe enough in our friendship to know that if it was extremely bad, you would have told me, am I right ?”

 _If only he knew_ thought Gareth the same time he answered:

-“Of course I would have, Lukita, and I know I can’t hide anything to you” he completed winking at him. The blush that spread on Luka’s cheek quite surprised him but he changed the topic before he could think of it any longer, just as Luka deliberately ignored the way his heart fluttered when the nickname came out of Gareth’s mouth.     

The conversation was becoming too risky anyway, and Gareth knew he couldn’t resist Luka’s eyes, it was a matter of seconds before he would have spilled the truth. The lie was already eating him and he had to put all his energy to fake a normal smile:

-“I heard Kroos’ voice from Benzema room on my way …how in the world did they ended up being paired as roommates?” Gareth asked laughing and obviously trying to forget Luka’s previous questions.

-“Well, you know that everyone changes their roommates right?” Luka said with weird tone

-Yeah, I mean, I thought there were some hum...habits you know? Like Benzema with Ronaldo or Varane…

-“Gareth, are you aware that everyone is paired up differently to improve the team solidarity?”

-“Really ? Oh…I never knew that the rooms were made according to a specific plan”…Luka just shrugged his shoulders.

-“But” Gareth sounded quite confused “How come I am always paired up with you ? Except these two times with Rapha and Lucas?”

This time Luka was looking at him with wide eyes:

-“Are you actually being serious?” his tone was nearly..cautious? The realization made Gareth even more confused.

-“Of course I am ?! Why ?”

-“Well, I guess I’m the only one that can actually have a full English conversation on other topics, not only on football.”

-“Umm, yeah that’s logic now that you said it.” But Gareth was still perturbed. Something in Luka’s tone made him believe he had more to tell. He chose not to say anything but he was determined to know what was going on.

-“Hey, we are going out tonight, do you want to come ?” This time, it was the midfielder’s turn to try to change the topic.

-“I think I’d rather stay in here to rest as much as I can and do the exercicse and massages the doctor told me to”.

-“Oh yeah, you’re absolutely right, health always come first.”

-“But who’s the “we” by the way?”

-“Humm I’m not exactly sure but I think Sergio, Marcelo, Cris, Karim, Lucas, Daniel, Marco, Isco..

-…Okok I think I got it”. Gareth cut “Just don’t get too wasted right? We still have to train for a finale”. The concern lacing his voice melted Luka’s heart a little. The Welshman was just too pure, too good for anyone.

-“I wouldn’t jeopardize it for anything in the world, you should know it.” Luka answered smiling.

 

Little did Gareth know, Luka was about to get way too drunk for his own good.

 

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I'm sorry it is such a short chapter ! More are coming way quicker, it's a matter of days actually ! 

**I have a lot of scenarios in my head and i need you to VOTE (you can pick more than one). I WON’T UPDATE UNTIL I HAVE AT LEAST 10 VOTES SO I KNOW WHAT A MAJORITY WOULD LIKE TO READ NEXT :**

 

**1\. Luka comes back from the party, they fight harshly but quickly as feeling are revealed and make up sex ensues**

**2\. Luka comes back from the party they fight, but Luka discovers at the end of the Champions League that Gareth wants to leave. They get closer as Luka tells him he doesn't want  him to leave (and THEN smut ?)xD**

**3\. No smut please, just more than friendship**

**4\. Luka come back from the party, they fight but another person's intervention to solve their issues make Luka jealous, and Gareth notices it (and then same ending as 2?)**

**5\. Others suggestions : Don't hesitate to comment anyways, I'll gladly take your remarks. I love building stories through interactions with the viewers. If you don't like and you would rather me to keep the story a secret, it's fine, you can say it too !** 6\. Stop the story here I don’t like it


	4. Mean things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, the majority of you have answered options 2 and 4, and people even suggested combining the two which I found very clever. About the smut, I initially thought that a majority would have wanted it but not so much and it’s great ! I think I’ll add an optional chapter which contains smut, but which won’t change the story. That way, I hope it will please everyone ! Tell me what you think about it ! Of course, I saw a lot of comments asking for a slow build relationship, the options that I gave a few days ago aren’t going to be applied in only one chapter don’t worry, I planned on making it as realistic as possible, it was just to know where the story was heading but a lot more chapters are planned. It’s already a too long author note so I’m leaving you to this new chapter !

Gareth was watching a rugby match on his computer when the sound of someone knocking got his attention. He went to open the door and ended up facing a very sorry looking Sergio Ramos and Luka. He wondered a split-second why couldn’t Luka go back to their room alone when the smell of alcohol hit him. Indeed, Luka was looking a bit too happy for 1am in the morning.

-“ I’m sorry I didn’t realize how much he drank” Sergio said the same time that Gareth asked “How wasted is he ?”. Gareth chuckled and reassured Sergio :

  
-“It’s fine Sergio, he probably didn’t have that much drink anyway… A few cups are enough for him to be completely trashed.”  
  
-“Still, I’m feeling a bit guilty, I should have watched over him but the bartenders happened to be Madridistas so we had a great time and I lost track of the amount of drink he took.

  
“-“You were not his babysitter Sergio it’s fine, really. I just hope he’ll be able to train properly, even if it starts in the late afternoon. Now go rest, you’re not completely sober either” Gareth concluded, laughing.

  
-“Still a pale excuse for a captain. Anyway, goodnight and if you need help with him ask me right ?  
-I’ll do that. The Welshman said, closing the door.

  
The moment he turned around, he saw Luka wobbling toward his bed. Seconds later, his legs gave out. Gareth was quick to react, thanks to his football reflexes, and he caught up the small frame of his friend before he could seriously hit the ground.

  
-“Easy there, let’s get you in bed hum ? Gareth asked, not waiting for an answer and sweeping him bridal style. However, as soon as Luka hit his bed, he seemed to have other ideas in mind:

  
-Why are you such a dad Gaz ?

  
-I’m sorry what? Gareth said bursting in laughs.

  
-“Why are you such a dad ? A party pooper ? As boring as an old man ?” Luka repeated himself, dead serious and even get angrier each synonym he gave.

  
-“Hey hey don’t start to be the angry drunk on me when I’m tucking you in bed as you are clearly completely wasted!” Gareth fired back. But Luka was not done, far from it even. The alcohol was clearly speaking for him but his words weren’t any less harmful.

  
-“I’m just being honest ! You never let me have fun !”

  
-“What ? I’m not having a conversation when you’re drunk. If you still want to talk about this tomorrow we will, but I’m not recognizing you here! Plus, don’t act as if you regret not going out every two night Like Sergio does when you told me that you preferred staying in the hotel.”

  
-“No ! Listen to me ! I’m always by your side ! And when I leave for a night, I have to go back to the hotel early so that I don’t wake you up in the middle of the night. It’s not fair! Just because you never go out doesn’t mean I can’t have fun!” Luka said angrier by the minute now.

  
Oh so that’s why they were back so soon Gareth thought. But Sergio told him they wanted to be back not too late to be fine for the training, so he knew it was not about “not waking him up” as was claiming Luka.

  
-“You know what Luka, I am trying to act like a good friend by taking care of your drunk ass but if you want to go back to the bar I’m so not holding you back” Gareth ended up saying, exasperated with his friend unusual behavior  


-“You’re just jealous”, Luka spatted.  


-“What the hell are you talking about ? Look, I’m not going to fight with you when you don’t mean what you’re saying.”

  
-“I mean it ! You’re jealous that I am friends with everyone out there, that everyone in this team like me, and that you only have what ? Like three “friends” here, so you keep me from having fun” he said, quoting the word friends.  


-“Luka, you’re not making a sense here ! I just told you to go back to the bar if you wanted to now let me go to bed, you’re getting ridiculous.”  


-“Just so you know I’m done being your babysitter now”  


That statement really threw Gareth out of guard.  


-“ _What_?” He asked, disbelieved and not liking at all where the conversation was heading.  


-“I’m done having to stay close to you to translate everything, to make sure you have someone by your side and don’t look like a total looser in front of the press just because you’re too fucking shy and a coward to make friends on your own. And don’t give me your “ _spanish is hard_ ” excuse when I’m fucking Croatian. The only language you know is your mother tongue. You are so pathetic honestly.”

  
Ok. That was not the Luka Gareth knew. He couldn’t act as if he was deaf when the midfielder said things like that. It hurt. A lot actually. He knew Luka since the very beginning, always hung out with him, knew his story, his fears. He was by his side for his greatest accomplishment as much as his biggest disappointments. The both of them had always had each other back and now, Luka was saying that it was all fake and the only reason he faked it was because he was pitying him. Plus throwing to him that he was antisocial, shy, dumb for not knwo any other languages and everything when he knew how bullied he had been was not exactly the nicest thing to say either.

He didn’t know what to respond to that. He didn’t even want to. But Luka was not finished yet :

  
-“From now, I’m going to have fun all I want!”Luka was screaming now. Gareth tried to shush him but he completely ignored it. “I’m not going to stay in our bedroom just so you won’t be alone and I’m going to enjoy the company of the rest of team. It’s about time that I’m selfish and stop being the one you cling onto.” Luka was panting, apparently done with his angry speech.

  
-“Well, I never guess my presence bothered you so much. If I had known, I would have stopped being a burden to you a long time ago. You could have said earlier and in a nicer way I think, it wouldn’t have hurt anyone.” Gareth sighed. He didn’t know if he had to take what Luka said seriously, but at the same time, he knew he couldn’t blame it all on alcohol, nor could he ever forget this conversation.  


He left Luka alone in his bed and went to the bathroom to clear his mind.

  
As he took deep breaths he realized how sad he suddenly felt. A wave of panic crashed over him, and he found it harder to breathe. Everything was spinning around him, as it did when he had too much pressure, when he was too harsh on himself…back to when each and every time; Luka was there to steady him, to reassure him, to have faith in him and to trust him like he had never trusted himself.

  
But this time, he was alone. He had no golden eyes to look into to concentrate, to calm himself. He had no embrace to lean it and hide his face from the rest of the world. He had no hand to ruffle his hair to light up the tension. He had no hot breath on his ear, telling him that everything was going to be fine.

  
He was utterly alone and he felt his entire steady world slipping out of control because of the one who used to be his rock.  
He forced himself to calm down, splashing water on his face, hiding a few silent tear that he didn’t even realize had escaped his eyes. It must have been a bet, a cruel prank. It could not be true.

Suddenly he thought back to his will to leave, to his guilt about potentially leaving Modric behind with Reàl. The guilt suddenly vanished and after pain, came anger.

  
How dared he told him this when Luka had always told him that he’d rather hung out with a few people that with everyone, that he preferred small groups to drunk nights out with the entire team. He had always seemed to like the peace of being the two of them, or a bit more when Toni or Raphaël joined them. He had never seemed bother by staying in the bedroom with him when the others were out; when they were simply talking, or watching videos together, when he was trying to teach him a few words in Spanish, when he was telling him stupid jokes that were making them laugh anyway. 

He had always looked genuinely happy when they were together, and he could not believe he had faked all of it just because (and that he was sure of) Luka Modric was a nice, selfless and altruist.  
The memories reassured him a little. His sadness had faded a bit, and he felt angrier than anything.

But when he came out of the bathroom and Luka had already turned off his lights, Gareth did the same and silently thanks the dark to easily hide his puffy eyes.

  
He was simply exhausted, so he quickly succumbed to sleep thinking of how he had to talk to Luka tomorrow, and then dreaming of nothing but darkness.

 

 

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I'm sorry Gareth !

**How did you guys founded this chapter ? Should I go on with the story ? Was the fight too much, unrealistic ? Should I delete it or rewrite in a smoother way ? Or maybe i shouldn't even make them fight ?**

**Tell me what you think because I really don't feel satisfied with this one.**


	5. Unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOO... Since the two of them fought quite hard in the last chapter, I'm really struggling to write and justify Luka's actions BUT my mind suddenly had a good idea and it's about time a third person interfer to solve their issues ! I was having a hard time finding who this third person could be, since in this story, Gareth doesn't have real friends except Luka (so I would have had to justify and it would have make the story, yes realistic, but way longer). So, Sergio Ramos appeared and all of my problems were solved since (and that's my personnal opinion, of course you can disagree) he's the team captain and I don't need to justify why he cares about his players ! Ta-daaaaaa. Now if you don't like a sergio/gareth potential friendship, deal with it cause I really enjoyed writing it !

Gareth left early in the morning, surprised to see that Luka was still sleeping. He was usually the first to get up and way earlier than him.

He is usually never up that soon but he hasn’t been really sleeping well. He so was lost in thoughts of what happened yesterday that he didn’t notice Sergio getting closer until a pat on his shoulder made him react:

-“You’re alright man? You looked quite lost here...And since when are you an early bird?”  Sergio asked, managing to pull proper English sentences for what felt to Gareth the first time ever.

-“Yeah I’m fine, I didn’t really sleep well…”

-“Is it because of Luka ?”

Gareth shot his head up, wondering how Sergio knew…did Luka really talk that loud and others had heard the fight? He would be mortified if it was the case. When Sergio saw his reaction, he started to feel a bit suspicious:

-“I mean, he was badly drunk but he didn’t make you stay up too late didn’t he? “

-“What ? Oh no, don’t worry he was tired and felt asleep easily” Gareth replied, relieved to see that it was not about their argument. But as Luka said, Gareth was too easy to read, and even if Sergio was obvious, quite rude sometimes too, he was also his captain and knew he had to check on his teammates. So Sergio decided to trust his instincts:

-“Look, I can’t believe I’m saying this but has Luka done something else? I mean, I’m sorry but you look like shit dude.”

Gareth chuckled a bit sadly. He knew he probably had dark bags under his eyes but never imagined someone would notice. But he was also very intrigued in Sergio’s sudden attention towards him. What had changed ? Why was he speaking an actual understandable English ? And since when has Sergio ever been concerned about him except for his injuries ?

-“Look Gaz, I know I’m not the first one you would come up to to talk about your problems or anything, but just to let you know that I’m here for you okay ? Because I feel like you would talk to Luka about it first, but my instincts are telling me that Luka is the reason you look like shit.”

-“Fuck your instincts Sergio” Gareth replied, laughing. He had no idea why he had actually answered to Sergio and why he felt like he could talk to him. He had never seen him like this but it felt great to have someone who looked out for him for once.

Sergio’s face turned serious

-“So it is about our little Lukita then.. Could you explain to me more? As a captain I have to make sure payers get along so we have a good spirit on the pitch”. He said with a smug expression that made Gareth smiled a little. But he was not letting himself getting fouled by Sergio sudden good manners. Pranks existed.

-“That’s why you are letting Cristiano nearly insulting me each training?” Gareth blurted. He immediately apologized “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said that, he’s your friend and an amazing player and he’s been there for so long…

-…Stop rambling.”Sergio looked _guilty_? “I know I have done fucking favoritism towards him because yes, he’s my friend. But you’re right, that’s not what captain does. We’re supposed to be equal in this team and I’m not going to let it happen ever again. You deserve to be on this team as well as anybody else and it’s about time some buttheads realize it” Sergio concluded with a light smile on his lips. Gareth on the other end was completely dumbfounded.

“-What happened?”

Sergio looked at him inquiringly

-“Why do you care all of the sudden? You’ve always said the strict minimum to me and now you’re telling me you’re there for me and won’t let injustices happen again.”

Hurt flashed trough Sergio’s eyes.

-“I know and I’m sorry I didn’t realized that sooner. I’m the captain of this team, and I’m ashamed of my behavior towards all of the shit you’ve been through. I swear I’m being honest, I…I” Sergio looked sincerely sorry and quite embarrassed now.

-“You what ?” Gareth asked gently

-“I’ve been taking a few English lessons from a friend so I could talk to you and not ostracize potential new players that could only speak English.” Gareth couldn’t believe what he was hearing. That was very very sweet from Sergio and it felt like an oxymora to put this adjective next to his captain’s name.

-“That’s really nice of you and probably the only way to convince me you were being genuine.” Gareth laughs to break to weird emotional tension that has build up through the conversation.

-“Sit next to me while breakfast and we’ll talk about Luka ?”

Gareth groaned:

-“I was hoping you would forget about that”.

-“Not happening. Not when I’m concerned about you”. 

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Tell me what you think : **should I rewrite the fight and make it less harsh, or is the story realistic and fine with Sergio's appearance ?** I will be developping Sergio/Gareth uring one or  two chapter, adn potentially it will make Luka jealous ? Then the two of them would make up ? Tell me what you think but I actually have less of a writer block since Sergio appaered in the story.

Thank you for reading ! Don't forget to leave kudos if you liked it ;)


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